The present disclosure relates to a switchback control apparatus for an industrial vehicle.
An industrial vehicle such as a forklift truck performs a peculiar switchback operation in which the traveling direction of the industrial vehicle is switched in a forward direction or in a reverse direction during traveling. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-16921 discloses a switchback control apparatus. The switchback control apparatus includes a two-speed reversible transmission, a forward and reverse lever for shifting the shift stage of the transmission to the forward movement, the neutral state, or the reverse movement, a vehicle speed sensor for detecting the speed of the vehicle, a traveling direction sensor for detecting the traveling direction of the vehicle, and a controller for controlling the transmission to shift forcibly to the first speed stage when the traveling direction of the vehicle differs from the position of the forward and reverse lever in a state in which the vehicle travels at the second speed or more.
In the above-described switchback control apparatus, when the position of the forward and reverse lever does not coincide with the traveling direction of the vehicle that is detected by the traveling direction sensor, the controller determines that the switchback starts and then, controls the transmission to shift forcibly to the first speed stage. Subsequently, when the position of the forward and reverse lever coincides with the traveling direction of the vehicle that is detected by the traveling direction sensor, the controller determines that the switchback ends and then, releases the first speed stage of the transmission that is set forcibly. Since the switchback control apparatus needs the traveling direction sensor to control the switchback operation, the cost of the switchback control apparatus increases.
The present disclosure is directed to providing a switchback control apparatus for an industrial vehicle, which can control the transition of the transmission to a first speed stage that is set forcibly and release the first speed stage of the transmission that is set forcibly in a switchback operation without a sensor for detecting a traveling direction of the industrial vehicle.